Sainthood for John Paul II?

2005-04-12 17:56

Denis Barnett

Vatiocan City - Cardinals meeting daily in Rome to discuss the main issues facing the Roman Catholic Church ahead of a conclave next week to elect a pope have signed a petition asking a future pope to "accelerate" the beatification of John Paul II, said a report on Tuesday.

The petition was signed by "many", but not all, of the 134 cardinals present at Monday's meeting, according to the Italian daily, Corriere della Sera.

The prelates have clearly caught the popular mood after the funeral mass for the pope on Friday, when some in the massive crowd began chanting "santo, santo", demanding that the Polish-born pontiff be declared a saint.

The letter had been left on a table for cardinals to sign and, at the end of the meeting, was handed to the dean of the College of Cardinals, Germany's Joseph Ratzinger, who will have the task of delivering it to the next pope, said the newspaper.

Have begun an exchange of ideas

Cardinals held their eighth general congregation since the death of the pope on Tuesday, with the arrival of 89-year-old Mauritian Cardinal Jean Margeot swelling the number to 137 in the Vatican's New Synod Hall.

Vatican spokesperson Joaquin Navarro-Valls said they had begun "an exchange of ideas on the general situation of the church in the world and on the Holy See", without giving details.

They also heard from the Cardinal Camerlengo, Eduardo Martinez Somalo, that the pope's apartments had now been completely sealed. Only his study and bedroom were sealed immediately after his death.

Navarro-Valls said that Italian Cardinal Sergio Sebastiani led a discussion about Holy See finances, and the expenses incurred during the period since the pope's death.

They also discussed such mundane matters as how to transport the 115 cardinal electors from their Santa Marta residence to the Sistine Chapel and back, a distance of less than a kilometre.

The fast-track to sainthood

Archbishop Edward Nowak, the secretary of the Vatican office in charge of declaring saints, was quoted as saying on Monday that the church could put John Paul II on the fast-track to sainthood from as early as October as the next pope could by-pass the usual lengthy procedure.

"The synod of bishops is meeting in Rome in October and it could be an appropriate opportunity to make such a decision," said Nowak.

Ordinarily, Church rules decree that five years must pass after death before the question of sainthood is tackled, to allow for cooler assessment of the subject's life.

However, at least one cardinal is believed to have revived talk of an ancient custom of allowing canonisation by acclamation.

- AFP